Warriors Forward Says Kyrie Is Harder To Guard Than Ja

The reigning champions Golden State Warriors played two of the tougher matchups in back-to-back games. On Sunday, they faced Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets. On Wednesday, they played Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies. Two of the best players in the NBA, and Jonathan Kuminga, the Warriors forward, says Kyrie is the tougher matchup.

According to Monte Poole of NBC Sports, Kuminga said that "it was even tougher to guard Kyrie than guarding Ja." He added it was because "Kyrie has everything." In those two games, the Warriors beat the Grizzlies and narrowly lost to the Brooklyn Nets.

‘It was even tougher guarding Kyrie than guarding Ja.’
- Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, who has defended both Kyrie Irving and Ja Morant in the last two games.
Says Kyrie ‘has everything.’
— Monte Poole (@MontePooleNBCS) January 26, 2023

Although Kuminga was not the primary defender on Kyrie in the Nets matchup, he had a glimpse of the difficulty it is to guard him. In the four minutes they were matched up, Kyrie was 2-5 from the field. At the end of the game, the Brooklyn superstar had 38 points in 40 minutes.

Lob it up and Clax will take care of the rest pic.twitter.com/L4XukNi182
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) January 23, 2023

Against the Grizzlies, Morant was defended by Kuminga in only three and a half minutes. Ja would score one bucket and seemingly the Warriors forward held his ground. At the end of the game, Morant had 29 points in 35 minutes.

AY AY AY AY AY AY 🍊

* @LarryJuneTFM voice* pic.twitter.com/bs5eM6oy4a
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) January 26, 2023

Two of the most electrifying players in the NBA are a must-watch each time they play. They are leading their teams to the top of their respective conferences. Morant and the Grizzlies are in second place. Meanwhile, Kyrie and the Nets are in fourth place and have played without Durant for the last eight games.

As for the Warriors, they are in the eighth seed, only three and a half games out of the third seed. The Western conference is looking to be extremely competitive so the Warriors can make a push into the second half of the season and possibly have the home-court advantage going into the first round of the playoffs.

Kuminga will be a key piece for the team. His defense is much needed. His offense is a work in progress but looks like it is taking some strides. For the season, the 20-year-old is averaging eight points and three rebounds in 19 minutes per game. The Warriors will face the Raptors tonight whom they played in the 2019 Finals.